Acting out of a sense of love, compassion and Christian duty, organizers, volunteers and members of New Beginnings Worship Center worked to provide food, prayer and love to 244 Brewton area families Thursday.
Pastors Bo and Samantha Bell said the distribution of 10,000 pounds of food did more than provide groceries for families in need.
“This isn’t about anything but taking care of souls,” Bo said. “Through Thursday’s distribution we touched the lives of 244 families — that’s 767 people in this community that we touched.”
Samantha said the organization and distribution of food to that many people is a huge undertaking, but one she joyfully participates in.
“I just love serving people,” Samantha said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do. We see this as a chance to serve the souls of the people we see.”
The goal of New Beginnings Worship Center is to make large distribution events like the one held Thursday a regular event, Bo said.
“We’d love to be able to do this on a more regular basis,” Bo said. “Right now, our small food pantry is ready to serve folks anytime there is a need, but we’d love to get to the point where we have our food pantry open a couple of times a week to serve the public.”
Thursday’s distribution is considered a mobile pantry, Samantha said, and takes a lot of planning, manpower and money.
“We could always use some help with a job this big,” Bo said. “We would love to see all the churches in the area come together for one purpose — to help the community. We would love to share the joy we get from serving those who need a hand.”
Bo said the distribution Thursday — and others like it the group has held in the past and planned for the future — is a work similar to story of the feeding of 5,000 mentioned in The Bible.
“It’s just amazing to see God work with the people we see,” Bo said. “We had a prayer area and to see the expression on people’s faces when they receive prayer is a blessing. There were some who were weeping from the touch they received. If it costs the church a thousand dollars to see a glimpse of the manifestation of God’s love, it’s worth it.”
The cost to supply 10,000 pounds of food for a distribution here is $1,000. Contributions are always welcome, Bo said.
“We use the money from tithes and offerings at the church to pay for the food,” Bo said. “When we get $1,000 together, we make arrangements to get the food. It takes a little doing to get it all together. We are kind of at the mercy of the Bay Area Food Bank where we get the food. We go down to pick up smaller loads of food for our regular food pantry, but when we get 10,000 pounds of food, they deliver it to us. That takes some coordination and some work. But, it’s something we believe we have a duty to do.”
For information on how to help the New Beginnings Worship Center with more distributions or to be a part of the event, contact the church office at 809-2463 and your message will be returned.
For those wishing to make a contribution to the food distribution ministry, donations may be mailed to New Beginnings Worship Center, P.O. 1612, Brewton, AL 36427 or delivered to the New Beginnings office on St. Nicholas Avenue Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please mark contributions to the attention of “food bank.”